The fan who caught David Freese's 11th-inning home run in Thursday night's classic World Series Game 6 returned the ball to the Cardinals player after making a quick deal for a signed bat and ball and a chance to meet the players.
Dave Huyette, a 39-year-old radiologist from Maryville, Ill., leaped a fence and snared the ball from the center field grass. He tucked it in his pants and escaped other fans looking for it. Then he was escorted to the Cardinals clubhouse, where he met Freese and struck his deal.
"Maybe if I had been wanting for money, it'd be different," Huyette said. "But I make a good living. I wasn't going to hold the country hostage for the ball.
"I told them I didn't need any money, but it'd be nice to meet some of the players."
Huyette did just that, along with his friend Jeremy Reiland, a Cubs fan who wore a Cubs T-shirt inside the rival locker room.
"He didn't tell me he was going to wear that shirt before we came," Huyette joked. "This is ridiculous."
Read more about that story and others -- including an item about UConn's participation in the 2013 NCAA basketball tournament being threatened because of the Huskies' poor graduation rate -- plus check out videos, trivia and more, at Friday's Morning Mashup [1].
Links:
[1] http://leeinks.weei.com/sports/2011/10/28/fridays-morning-mashup-cardinals-fan-trades-in-david-freese-home-run-ball-for-bat-ball
[2] http://www.weei.com/category/boston/general